brand-footprint-report_6

Moving North in Food
WHAT WILL SHOPPERS WANT NEXT
Innovation in food is shaped by changing, often
local, consumer requirements. In response,
food brands are seeking more engagement
with consumers – particularly through social
media – to put themselves at the forefront of
understanding what they will want next and
how they can respond.
GLOBAL BRAND COMPASS FOOD BRANDS
LOW PENETRATION &
HIGH FREQUENCY
W
Ajinomoto
16
14
HIGH PENETRATION &
HIGH FREQUENCY
N
Four ways to win
12
CONVENIENCE AND NUTRITION PROVE
A WINNING COMBINATION
The 2014 Brand Footprint food ranking reveals
two key trends: consumers say they want
health, but they often choose convenience.
Health is an important consideration for
consumers worldwide when making food
choices. Rising obesity, higher levels of
education and food contamination scares are
all motivating factors for the focus on health.
Alongside this is a demand for food brands
to offer convenience. The needs of time-poor
consumers, changing social habits and onthe-go
eating are creating the desire for food
options which are easy to prepare and to eat.
Manufacturers have responded with healthy
options and ‘better for you’ variants that
replace high-sugar, sodium and fat products,
and convenient solutions which meet new
consumption occasions or consumer needs
such as breakfast biscuits which offer slow
release energy.
In Asia, health benefits are considered as
important as safety within food. Both attributes
are especially valued by women: 72% of urban
Vietnamese housewives want products with
additional ‘active’ ingredients such as vitamins,
ginseng and calcium. Convenience is also a
growing priority with more than half of rural
Vietnamese housewives now preferring food
that doesn’t require much preparation. One
global brand responding to these needs is
Maggi which positions itself as 'the friend
of consumers' with a strategy to make its
products indispensable in the kitchens of
every Vietnamese family.
In Spain, where the penetration of ready-toeat
food peaked in 2011, home-made dishes
returned to popularity with households using
healthier methods such as boiling, stewing
and grilling. This trend has boosted the growth
of brands including Knorr which created new
convenient home-cooking solutions.
Despite their concern for healthy eating
consumers in some countries, such as the UK
and US, have increased the average sugar and
saturated fat content in the food they buy. This
is partly influenced by the trend for 'natural'
products – butter is higher in saturated fat
than ‘light’ margarine – but also due to a move
towards more convenient processed foods.
Did you know
The portions eaten by men in
the UK are on average 20%
larger than those consumed
by women. Women choose
'healthy' brands 25% more
often than men.
• Play an active role in the fight against
obesity. Danone’s new Light and Fit range
of fat-free yogurts in the US and Walker’s
air-popped Pops snack in the UK meet
consumers’ health needs as well as
enhancing the brands’ position as trusted and
responsible. Bread brands including Bimbo
and Brazil’s Panco are also responding,
launching more wholegrain, light and
seeded variants. Understanding that people
don’t want to skimp on taste, treat brands
such as Cornetto and Oreo have launched
mini options that allow shoppers to indulge
themselves with a smaller portion.
• Take a different approach to ‘healthy’ in
different countries. In Asia the focus is on
‘naturalness’ and supplementing products
with herbal-based benefits. Knorr and
Maggi’s success in Asia is led by a strong
emphasis on natural ingredients in the taste
enhancer segment. Latin Americans are
more interested in weight loss. Danone’s
Ser brand has outdone competitors in Latin
America with its tasty low calorie products.
• Co-create products and experiences with
consumers. This solidifies a brand’s role in
consumers’ lives and enables it to tap into
genuine experiences and needs, then produce
products based on their specifications. It also
generates engagement and excitement by
involving consumers in the development of
something new and unique.
• Use co-branding to extend reach. Combining
the best elements of two brands – as Cadbury
did with Ritz crackers and French biscuit
LU to create Dairy Milk Ritz and Dairy Milk
LU – can lead to new products that appeal to
different consumers and markets. Mondelez is
a pioneer of co-branding. Milka was partnered
with Oreo in the UK and Philadelphia spread
in France. Retailer partnerships can produce
exciting new offerings, for instance the Oreo
McFlurry in McDonalds.
THE GAME CHANGER: HEALTHY BISCUITS AND
BREAKFAST BISCUITS
As the second most purchased category within the
food market, biscuits have had an exciting year.
Penetration % 2013
S
10
8
Kraft
Bimbo
Maggi
Yakult Activia
0 Kinder 10 6 20
Yoplait
Barilla
Lay’s 30 Knorr
40
Doritos
Hershey’s Quaker
Heinz
McCormick
Danone Cheetos
LOW PENETRATION & LOW
FREQUENCY
The category has innovated with new pack sizes,
flavours and variants, creating new consumption
occasions. One of the most revolutionary trends
has been the growth of ‘healthy biscuits’, chosen
for their low salt, fat and sugar content with
added fibre and vitamins.
BELVITA: REDEFINING BREAKFAST IN THE UK
Belvita was first launched in France more than 10
years ago. The ‘breakfast biscuit’ was created to
address a gap in the French market for ready-toeat
breakfasts that could be consumed on the go.
Following its success in France, Belvita brought
its products to the UK – which is a nation keen
on biscuits, with 70% of the population eating the
product in a typical week.
Mondelez, the owner of Belvita, combined this
local preference for biscuits with the need of
UK consumers for a convenient and nutritious
breakfast food. Mondelez spent $12.7m on
marketing in the UK emphasising the product’s
benefits: it’s easy to eat on the move, both tasty
and satisfying, with energy that is released slowly.
Following the success of the sub-segment in the
UK, Belvita has exported the idea of eating healthy
biscuits for breakfast to three continents. Belvita
grew its Consumer Reach Points by 13% in the
last year and jumped two positions in the global
ranking. Growth was driven by Colombia and
Saudi Arabia as well as the UK, where penetration
4
2
2
Oreo
Frequency 2013
Nestlé
E
HIGH PENETRATION &
LOW FREQUENCY
increased 5%. It has been less successful in
Portugal and France where it has been challenged
by local competitors such as Gullón and Nacional.
So far the brand has protected its market-leading
position in the UK with aggressive promotions,
however the breakfast biscuit sub-segment is
becoming more crowded with competitors such
as Hovis, Quaker, Weetabix and McVitie’s all with
their own breakfast biscuit variants. How long will
Belvita’s lead be sustained
Did you know
Every household in Chile
buys a tomato sauce at
least once a year.
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